Tan Dun Photo: Waring Abbot With cellist Yo-Yo Ma as soloist, the music has the sweep of a romantic film score while reflecting the action and atmosphere of the film through the mesmerizing, often delicate sounds of traditional Chinese music. Composer, conductor and winner of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for music composition, Tan Dun began his career in his native China in the Peking Opera after planting rice for two years during the Cultural Revolution. A graduate of Beijing's Central Conservatory and Columbia University in New York, his music reaches large audiences throughout the world in performances by leading orchestras and ensembles. Tan Dun, an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist, has created world-premiere recordings of his opera Marco Polo ( ) and Symphony 1997 (Heaven Earth Mankind), a large choral-orchestral work written to commemorate the occasion of the return of Hong Kong to China ( SK 63368 A tale of intrigue, love, violence and betrayal set in 19th-century China during the Ching dynasty, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon stars Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh and won rave reviews in its world premiere in a special out-of-competition screening at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. The Sony Classical soundtrack recording of the films score includes the end-title song "A Love Before Time" sung by Asian pop star CoCo Lee for which Tan Dun and Jorge Calandrelli created the music based on themes from the score (incorporating Yo-Yo Mas cello solos), and lyrics by the film's producer, James Schamus. The international release of both the film and the soundtrack recording will follow beginning in the fall of 2000. | |
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